A new human species discovered in the caves of Denisova

A recent scientific discovery risks reversing theories about the nature of the human species. Indeed, Russian scientists claimed to have found a DNA of men from Denisova in Russia that is different from other species that have lived in this place.

Different species have lived together and in parallel

Russian anthropologists have discovered remnants of Altai hominids in the Denisovan cave in Siberia. A study was published in Nature in 2011 demonstrating that the genetic code of these ancient humans was very different from that of modern humans.
The importance of this discovery lies in the change it generates in understanding the development of human species. These remains indicate the existence of previously unknown species having lived between 40 000 and 50 000 years. Anthropologists and researchers concluded that there existed a previously unknown population called “Denisova”, by referring to the name of the cave where the remains were discovered. But scientists have not decided how “Denisova” appeared and disappeared. All we know is that he lived in this cave 230,000 years ago.

Changes in the textbooks of evolution are expected ?

Scientists discovered that the “Denisovans” mitochondrial DNA had 202 Neanderthal DNA genes and 385 of the modern human DNA (which has more than 10,000 in his DNA). Much work has been done in comparative genome analysis, including the remains of 54 genomes of modern humans around the world, the DNA of Homo sapiens and six Neanderthals. As a result of the study, scientists discovered that the Denisovan only have separated from the common branch of humanity a million years ago.
The genes of Denisovan did not show continuity with the inhabitants of present-day Eurasia, indicating that the Denisovan were not in contact with the ancestors of the present population. Only the population of the former inhabitants of Melanesia, in the east of Asia, contains 4 to 6% of the “Denisovan” genome.
This study also discovered that the culture of the inhabitants of the Denisovan cave was far more advanced than the culture of Neanderthals that lived in nearby caves. The tools found required a more complex production process. This result will certainly alter certain ideas about human development in evolutionary textbooks that differs from the concept of evolution accepted up to now.